“We happened to have a birthday party for [son] Leo this week, so I had the chance to be around a lot of family and friends,” Gordon explained today at Pocono Raceway.

“When you haven’t won a big race like that in a while and you win it, you’re in such disbelief that it takes a couple of days for it to sink in as to how much you respect and appreciate and how you just don’t take for granted those types of moments and days.

“I think for me, it was just a great week to reminisce with all my friends and family who either watched it on TV or were there in person. Those are the greatest moments as a race car driver or competitor that you can go through.”

But now, it’s back to business for Gordon, who leads the Sprint Cup championship standings and will start fifth in Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono.

Those who perform well at Indy tend to do well at Pocono, which is also a low-banked, high-speed track. But there are also many unique aspects about Pocono that isn’t found anywhere else on the circuit.

“The tunnel turn [Turn 2] is a lot like the turns that we have at Indianapolis,” said Gordon. “But the other two are quite a bit different. So, we take something that we learn from every track we go to and try to apply it. And I think we’ve applied some of those things this weekend that should work well.”

Right now, Gordon appears set to truly contend for a fifth Sprint Cup championship. The “Drive for Five,” ongoing since his fourth title in 2001, has become the primary story around him.

After receiving treatment, Gordon competed in NASCAR’s longest race. But the legend believes that after what happened to him in Charlotte, he may have to deal with back issues for the remainder of his career – however long that may be.

“I don’t know what exactly transpired there, but it’s not the same,” Gordon admitted. “And I have to be much more careful. I’m just having to treat it more with ice and [electric stimulation] and be more careful and do more stretching.

“Is it going to flare-up again? It could. But I’m just trying to be more cautious with the things that I do that I feel like contribute to that. But, yeah, it’s not great, that’s for sure.”